“Stranded in the stunning heat and beauty of New Mexico’s desert, three teams composed of three strangers must embark on a 36-mile adventure across soaring red rock mesas and steep river canyons in order to locate a briefcase full of cash in just 72 hours. All they have to accompany them in their quest for $100,000 are their teammates, the clothes on their backs, a GPS and one bottle of water (Per person).”

Pretty entertaining episode. I appreciated the character development. The tough loving father figure, the supportive mother figure, and the patient but sometimes not so patient parent figures. Red team took the lead from the start with what looked like some semi smart navigating and a supportive team structure for each other. They were the only team that made both made it to the first checkpoint and got a relief drop.

Blue team was the first team to stop to get a relief drop. Brandon shoots in awkwardly like Superman, and takes a stance as such while explaining the concept of a relief drop. They took care of their weakest link remarkably well, although they were pretty cold and hungry the first night since he didn’t provide the fire he’d promised. They were surprisingly close to Red team along the entire way…another example of slow and steady being just about but not quite as awesome as quick and steady but definitely better than quick and unsteady. 🙂

Green was never far behind from the start, in fact, they blazed into the lead by the end of the first day, but also made a mistake that would ultimately cost them the race.

They had the opportunity, but didn’t stop for a relief drop the first night.

Being in the high desert like that, there’s obviously not a lot of water. Their weakest link, Tony, became a DIC the next morning (no that’s not a misspelling of dick although it can double in meaning) from dehydration and a lack of food as a result (Maybe he was that way from the start? [This is why I think the episodes should be at least an hour and a half – I didn’t feel like I got to know a whole lot about Green Team until close to when Tony almost quit]).

DisorientedIrritableCombative

He became angry, negative, and simply gnarly to be around, I’m sure. Bad idea to spend 3 days in the desert without water. Moving on…

The canoe scene was pretty great! Everyone was tossed! Even the sh*t talking duck boat tour guide! 😀 There was a bonding moment on red team as Breanna cried in Cathy’s arms after riding some white caps in the defensive position: The lawn chair position. On their backs, legs downstream.

Blue team and Red team are neck and neck on their way to the $100,000. Suddenly, Blue realizes they are in first place! They get excited and begin to push while Red waits for their moment to strike.

In a flash, he’s down. Daniel has a gnarly cramp in his leg and Red Team walks right by to take the lead back.

I personally think Blue Team’s navigation (down and up versus the ridge line) may have caused the cramp and potentially the loss (if they were truly as close as it seemed).

Red team gets their hands on the briefcase and it’s all she wrote! 😀

Individual teams, here we go:

We’ll start with Red Team. Andrew did the job of supportive team member even though he had some concerns with Breanna’s heart problems, and the simple fact that

Wicked hot chicks are a pain in the ass.”

We laughed at that. Great job taking care of your ladies, and pushing yourself to the max as well. It takes intelligence and strategy to run this race. Nicely done. The lasting impression was the best:

I can do a lot more than I think I can. I probably should.”

Breanna, good work pushing through everything. Being in that water and afraid as you were couldn’t have been easy on your body. Nicely done with the backpack from the blanket!

Cathy, you played mom quite well. Allowing Breanna to let out her emotions from the trauma she felt in the moment may have allowed your team to push on effectively. Bravo for intuition.

Ok, Blue Team.

Daniel, holy nice push! Being the unemployed hippie on the couch smoking herb who sprints after cramping on the last day of a three day challenge? Bravo! Did you apologize for hitting Lori in the head with the paddle? That first night didn’t pan out well for you with the no fire kit deal, huh. Did you know that being a marine you’d be expected to create a bow drill fire kit? 🙂 I’m positive your daughter is proud of you every single day!

Lori, so you know, 90% of military personnel leave the service without knowing how to make a fire with nothing. They have equipment for that unless you go to special schools. I left the army without that knowledge. I had to learn as a civilian in survival school. Nicely done with the fire, although…I didn’t only see one strike before you had the fire going…

Peter, I started laughing in the beginning when you were worried about sucking poison from someone’s ass. 🙂 Good job supporting Daniel in this journey. Reminding him to think of his daughter, nicely done. Great job with patience.

OK, Green Team.

Courtney, obviously the relief drop would have kept Tony going longer had it arrived either the first night or the next morning as soon as you could. Taking care of your weakest link is always a priority. When someone is thirsty, they are already dehydrated. Saying no to water is a no go. Sorry about your salon.

Shawn, there are more places than number one.

Tony, we get it…everyone’s angry when they are dehydrated, hungry, and tired, but you were the only one acting up like that. Temper tantrums might not be the way to go. Good call not to quit, although it didn’t appear that you were stoked to get up and go on.

All in all, quite entertaining. I’d recommend you watch it!

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About Hurricane Rita

An 8 1/2 year wounded OIF/OEF U.S. Army veteran, who grew tired of the system, sold her things, and moved into the back of her Rav4 after becoming a civilian in 2010. Then drove to Alaska and became a river guide on the largest bald eagle preserve in the world while healing in a cabin outside of town without electricity and plumbing. A runner, dance instructor, dance fitness instructor, and Couchsurfing traveler, she was chosen to participate in the action packed adventure, 72 Hours, on TNT. It aired on July 25, 2013 at 10:00PM. She went on the show to get her brother a wheel chair. Upon her return to the states from Fiji she found out she had contracted rat lungworm disease from eating a raw slug while filming the show. Ironically, having gone on the adventure to get a wheel chair for her brother, not only did her team lose in an upsetting manner (A teammate deliberately sabotaged the win), but then she found herself in a wheel chair herself. Paralyzed from the waste down, bladder and colon shut down, nerve damage over half of her body...She survived a great deal, but consuming a raw slug was what nearly killed her. A miraculous story of inspiration, recovery, and acceptance, she's getting better day by day, all the while with a positive attitude that proves contagious. Read on, Storm Watchers!